Front Desk Girl

I've got a problem with the girl that sits at the front desk in our office. I don't know her name, and she's not an employee of the company. She's a contracted security person that also answers the phone. She has no weapon that I can see (other than her offensive behavior). I'll give you some examples:

Eating. She constantly has food at her desk. I've seen pizza boxes, cake, Wendy's bags, etc. I don't think our receptionist should be eating at her desk. It doesn't look good. She should get a lunch break and should go somewhere (far away) to eat.

Paging. We have an overhead paging system. In a typical week, you might hear 4-5 pages, tops. Since this young lady has joined our team, overhead paging has increased significantly. What you hear is "Shaniqua Young, please report to the front desk," or "Roshonda Williams, please call the front desk." WTF? These aren't people that have work-related emergencies. That bitch is paging her friends. Give me a break.

Professionalism. Now this is going to sound inappropriate, but you'll have to deal with it. Whoever answers our phone is important, because it can be the first impression we make on a potential client. This girl has a very unprofessional telephone manner. OK, I'll say it--she's completely ghetto. When she pages, you can tell it takes every ounce of constraint not to say, "Shaniqua, git yo fat ass up here and talk to me." I don't like that.

Birthday. I'm not a party pooper. I think celebrating your birthday is fun. But a couple of weeks ago, I came up the elevator to see the reception desk RIDDLED with streamers, balloons and glitter. I was appalled. I think it's OK to decorate a cubicle in such a fashion, provided said cubicle is out of sight from important clients or guests, but who the HELL authorized decorating the whole goddamn lobby for someone that doesn't even WORK for us? Ugh.

Appearances. Her job is to sit there and answer the phone and protect us in case armed men storm the building. She should be concentrating on this task, as a quick reaction to these armed men could mean the difference between life and death for me. Instead, she reads books, and searches eBay and plays solitaire. Um, no. Sit up straight, eyes forward with your finger on the 911 button. Moving a Jack on top of a Queen isn't helping to keep me safe.

Religious Symbols. This I had to document because you wouldn't believe it if I told you. Apparently, in an effort to protheletize her beliefs, she has begun affixing newspaper articles about religion to her desk. She actually has them scotch-taped down so they won't blow off. This also happens to be the first thing our clients see when they come in the door. Who in HR is letting her get away with this?


The last two receptionists have been great and I got along with them famously. Each demonstrated excellent value to the company and was promoted internally. I see that we've made an attempt to twart this trend by outsourcing to this security company. All I can say is that this girl better have one HELL of a round-house if she's ever gonna demonstrate her value to ME.